The present invention relates to moisture absorbent pads and, more particularly, to an improved moisture absorbent pad primarily designed for use by incontinence patients.
Incontinence is a malady from which a great many elderly and ill individuals suffer. The inability to restrain or control the discharge of waste material from the body, particularly urine, is a problem which often cannot be remedied and, therefore, it is necessary to provide the incontinent individual with a means for containing the discharge, thereby enabling the individual to lead a relatively normal life.
One successful approach to this problem has been the use of incontinence garments such as briefs or the like, which can be washed and reused. Such garments are provided with a pocket-like structure into which a disposable moisture absorbent incontinence pad can be inserted. The pad, once it becomes moisture laden, is removed from the garment and a new pad is substituted in its place.
Incontinence pads normally include a layer of moisture absorbent core material such as wood pulp, tissue wadding, foams, non-wovens, batting, or the like. The moisture absorbent core material is surrounded by moisture permeable cover sheet which contains the core material and maintains the integrity of the pad. The ends of the cover sheet are usually sealed, by crimping or the like, such that the moisture absorbent core material is completely enclosed by the cover sheet.
In order to increase the absorbency of the core material, the core material may be divided into layers and a moisture diffusable layer interposed therebetween. The moisture diffuser layer may include alternating compressed and stretched zones of tissue or the like and acts to spread the moisture more evenly through the pad to increase its capacity.
Incontinence pads of the type described above suffer from several disadvantages which the improved incontinence pad of the present invention is designed to overcome. One of the problems relates to the tendency of moisture absorbed by the core material to leak from the sides of the pad. This problem becomes particularly acute when the moisture absorbent core material is saturated.
Another problem relates to the tendency of moisture absorbed by the core material to migrate back through the upper surface of the cover sheet towards the wearer, resulting in the pad having a wet, uncomfortable feel.